A fraud against schools, taxpayers and voters

It was all for the kids, they said, and public safety. That’s what Gov. Jerry Brown and his allies said over and over again last year in campaigning for Proposition 30, the initiative that raised income taxes on the wealthy and sales taxes for everyone and that gave the Golden State the dishonorable distinction of having the highest cumulative rate of income taxation of any state in America.

There were warnings, of course, from opponents who argued that there were no guarantees on how the money would be spent. But voters bought the governor’s spiel hook, line and sinker, easily passing it with 55.4 percent of the statewide vote. (San Diego County voters had more sense, rejecting it by 52.3 percent.)

But guess what? A U-T San Diego report on Sunday revealed that the governor’s budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 shows that of the $6 billion or so to be raised by the tax hikes only about half of the money will ever see the inside of a classroom.

Where will the rest go? That’s the worst part of the story. Incredibly, at least $1.3 billion would go to state workers – in the form of the elimination of one furlough day each month and for previously negotiated pay raises and increases in health care benefit contributions.

Did the governor or the unions or any other supporters of Proposition 30 ever say anything about that? You know the answer: No, they did not.

Here’s what they did say:

“Prop. 30’s TOUGH FISCAL CONTROLS insure money is spent ONLY on schools and public safety.” The all-caps emphasis was theirs.

“Without Prop. 30, our schools and colleges face an additional $6 billion in devastating cuts this year. Prop. 30 is the only initiative that prevents those cuts and provides billions in new funding for our schools starting this year – money that can be spent on smaller class sizes, up-to-date textbooks and rehiring teachers.”

“Prop. 30 is the only measure that establishes a guarantee for public safety funding in our state’s constitution, where it can’t be touched without voter approval. Prop. 30 keeps cops on the street.”

If Brown’s budget is approved it will be nothing less than fraud. The Legislature could correct it in considering the budget over the next four or five months, but, given that the Democrats now hold a supermajority of two-thirds of the seats in both houses, and that most of those Democrats are beholden to the state public employee unions, the chances of a fix are nil. Keep in mind that one legislator has already introduced a bill that would give state workers an additional paid holiday, making it an even dozen paid holidays each year.

Every student, every teacher and school administrator, every cop on the street – not to mention every taxpayer and voter – ought to feel cheated and deceived. Again.